National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs in 1888

Introduction

The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (NL) was established in 1876 (149 years ago) when a number of its teams broke away from the NA. The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (NL) was formed in Chicago, Illinois, by businessman and owner of the Chicago Base Ball Club (now known as the Chicago Cubs), William Hulbert, for the purpose of replacing the NA, which he believed to have been corrupt, mismanaged, full of rowdy, drunken ballplayers, and under the influence of the gambling community. One of the new rules put into place by the new league was that all teams had to be located in cities that had a population of 75,000 or more.

1888 was Season 13 of play for the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (NL) and took place 137 years ago.


Classification

Major League


Season Length

April 20, 1888 to October 13, 1888


Season Champion

New York Giants


# of Teams

8


Season Standings


Season Playoffs

There were no championship playoffs as the top team with the most wins at end of season was declared league champion for the season.


World Series

The 1888 World Series was the fifth post-season championship series between the New York Giants of the National League and the St. Louis Browns of the American Association in three cities (New York , Philadelphia, and St. Louis). The series was played as follows:

Game 1 – October 16, New York – New York won 2–1.

Game 2 – October 17, New York – St. Louis won 3–0.

Game 3 – October 18, New York– New York won 4–2.

Game 4 – October 19, New York– New York won 6–3.

Game 5 – October 20, New York – New York won 6–4 (8 innings).

Game 6 – October 22, Philadelphia – New York won 12–5 (8 innings).

Game 7 – October 24, St. Louis – St. Louis won 7–5 (8 innings).

Game 8 – October 25, St. Louis – New York won 11–3.

Game 9 – October 26, St. Louis – St. Louis won 14–11 (10 innings).

Game 10 – October 27, St. Louis – St. Louis won 18–7.

The New York Giants won the 1888 World Series, 6 Games to 4.


Events in Baseball (Thanks to Wikipedia)

January–March
  • January 2 – Fred Dunlap signs a contract paying him a $5,000 salary and a $2,000 signing bonus. It is the largest contract ever given to a player to date.
  • January 15 The Pittsburgh Alleghenys Purchase the contract of Billy Sunday from the Chicago White Stockings for $2,000
  • January 17 – The Kansas City Cowboys are admitted to the American Association.
  • January 27 – The Brooklyn Bridegrooms keep 5 players from the New York Metropolitans that they purchased last October and sell the rest, plus 4 of their own players, to the Kansas City Cowboys for $7,000.
  • February 2 – The Indianapolis Hoosiers announce that they will have 42 private boxes on top of their new grandstand. The boxes will only be available to season subscribers.
  • February 13 – The Kansas City Cowboys purchase the contract of Jumbo Davis from the Baltimore Orioles of the International League.
  • March 2 – The National League reverts to its original policy of a .50¢ admission price with no concessions given to individual clubs.
  • March 5 – The American Association votes to adopt the use of turnstiles at all parks in order to better control entry into games.
April–June
July–September
October–December

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